British-Pakistani director Sarmad Masud’s assured debut feature tells the fascinating true story of Nazo Dharejo (Suhaee Abro), a young woman who fought to save her home in Pakistan from bandits. Masud has said that he made the film “for Pakistan – our nation is struggling to find its voice in the cinema … we need to find our own voice, put our own stamp on things”. My Pure Land was shot in a house in Pakistan built by Masud’s grandfather. Masud raised the money for the film himself after the original production company backed out, with theatre producer Bill Kenwright then coming on board to complete the financing through his company Kenwright Films Ltd.

Critics have repeatedly compared the film with spaghetti westerns, John Ford movies, or in the words of Hollywood Reporter reviewer Stephen Dalton, ‘the heroine is set against a smoky sunset like Scarlett O’Hara with an AK-47′.

But Director, Sarmud Masud says this is a universal story. It’s not just Pakistani, or a western, or a feminist film.’ No, it’s a story that’s relevant at a time when displacement, diaspora and conflict in patriarchal societies around the globe are affecting populations and are in our daily consciousness. Fascinating. Masud’s debut feature film is the UK’s Official Entry for the 2018 Foreign Language Oscar.

“Lyrical, heart-poundingly tense and strikingly feminist.” Ed Potton, The Times

“A clean blend of arthouse mannerisms and action-movie suspense.” Leslie Felperin, Guardian